Katherine's Revenge
by Jyuoa
Summary: Sequel to The Protector Diaries. When Katherine and her 'crew' start causing trouble for the group, Maria calls in some back-up to help them deal with them. With help from both new friends and old ones, they just might be able to stop her wicked plans, if they don't attempt to kill each other first. D/OC, some S/E, J/B C/T throughout. I DO NOT OWN TVD or any of it's characters.
1. Prologue

Maria was sitting at the Grill with Damon, Stefan, and Elena. They never really had a chance to celebrate since they defeated Klaus for good, so they decided to go on a double date. "I am just glad that disaster's behind us." Elena said.

"I'll say." Maria said. "You had us all worried for a while there."

"You're back-up plan was what ended up saving us, though." Stefan pointed out.

"Well, not all of us." She said. She had gotten there after the ritual, so she was unable to save Jenna.

"It happens like that sometimes." Damon said, putting his arm around her. "At least we're all still alive."

"Thanks to her quick thinking." Elena said. "I'll bet you two have been on some interesting double dates before."

"Apart from with Matt and Caroline, not really." Stefan told her.

"That is so not true, brother." Damon said. "Are you forgetting that disaster in the early…"

"Hey, don't embarrass him." Maria said.

"Hey, we're brothers. It's what we do."

"So, how's Bonnie doing lately?" Elena asked. She hadn't seen much of her in the past few weeks, though she knew she and Jeremy were still going strong.

"She seems a lot happier these days." Maria told her. "Some of the advanced stuff we've been practicing is getting easier. Still, I wouldn't tick her off if I were you." That last part she spoke to Damon.

"Relax, the witch and I are barely speaking to each other."

"Maybe you should give her a chance." Maria said. "You don't have to like her, but it'd be nice if you'd try not to kill each other."

"Well, I wasn't expecting this." A new voice said. The group looked around. When they didn't see anyone, they all stood up.

"Maria?"

"I think someone's trying to…" Maria began.

"It's too bad you think your safe in here. I can always find you." The voice said.

"Elena, get out of here." Maria said. Elena tried to run, when the bar suddenly caught fire.

"How do I…" Elena began to ask.

"Just wake up, Elena. We'll meet later." Maria told her. "And put your necklace back on."

"Are we gonna try to fight whoever it is?" Stefan asked.

"I don't know if we can." Maria told him.

"You can try all you want, but you won't be able to stop me." They looked around, but they didn't see anyone. All three of them ran to where they thought the voice was coming from.

Suddenly, the group had found themselves split up from each other. The entire place was burning now. Maria looked around and didn't see any sign of Stefan or Damon. Suddenly, she felt a force push her back and she went flying through the window.

Maria opened her eyes and gasped. She looked around, wondering where she was for a moment. She felt her hand touch some kind of fabric. She looked over and saw what she had her hand against…Damon's shirt.

She realized that she'd fallen asleep next to him in his room. She felt herself blushing, thankful that she was still wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. She immediately let go of the shirt he was wearing. A few seconds later, he woke up. "Hey."

"Hey."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, that was just really weird." Maria told him.

"At least we made it out in one piece."

"I know." She sighed. "Sorry about cutting our dream date short. It was the only way to break the connection between us and whoever got in there."

"I understand." Damon told her. "Besides, around you, it always feels like I'm in a dream."

"Please, I'll bet you tell that to all the girls." Maria said. She turned away from him.

"Why would you…" He cut off when he realized Maria was laughing. "You're kidding."

"You actually believed that?"

"You're in for it now."

"Don't make me zap you, Damon." Maria warned. "I still have my witch powers in addition to being a vampire."

"You don't have to remind me every other day, you know."

"I know, though it's a little unusual for me to be both, but it happened."

"Yeah, but if you hadn't changed, I don't know if…" They both looked at each other.

"Hey, if it means anything, I'm glad that it happened." Maria told him. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here now."

"I'm glad it happened, too." Maria looked at him, feeling a little confused. "I mean, not that turning's ever easy, but…I guess what I'm trying to say is…" She understood what he was trying to say.

She put her hand up to his cheek. "It's okay. You don't have to be so nervous. I understand."

"I love you, Maria." She leaned closer and kissed him. Still, she couldn't shake the thoughts of the dream off. Who came after them and why?

"Maria?" She heard someone ask using her hearing. Reluctantly, they both pulled apart.

"I better go now." She left the room. She went into the hallway and found Stefan.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah. You felt that, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I think someone got in there, but who it is, why, and which one of us is something we don't know." Maria told him. "How's Elena?"

"She called and said she was fine, though she sounded pretty scared."

"Maybe you should go check on her. I'll call the others so we can see if anything like this has happened to them, too." Maria said. "If it's another supernatural or another vampire, we've got to figure out why they're doing this."

She headed into her room, got dressed, then called the others to meet at the park in fifteen minutes.

Dear Diary,

It's been a couple weeks since things have gone back to normal. However, it seems like we might have a new enemy in town. We don't know all the details yet, but we're going to investigate so we can figure out why they're threatening us in our sleep.

**A/N: I wonder if it's really Katherine or someone else that's haunting them right now. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Let me know what you think and please review. **


	2. Group Meeting

At the park, Maria found Bonnie and Caroline already there. "Hey, guys."

"Maria, how are you?" Caroline asked.

"Fine. A little shaken up though." Maria told them.

"The others must be running a little late." Bonnie said. "Jeremy hasn't called back yet and Elena's not picking up."

"Elena's fine, guys." Maria said.

"Still, it's not like her to be late for anything important." Bonnie said.

"They'll probably be here any minute."

"Hey. Is this the right place?" The girls turned.

"What are you doing here, Tyler?" Caroline asked.

"I got Maria's message."

"He's kinda part of the group, Care." Maria said. "We don't know if this has effected anyone else."

"Okay…"

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah."

"Hey. Sorry I'm late, guys." Elena said, joining the group.

"Where were you?" Caroline asked, hugging her.

"Oh, you know." Maria looked at her and noticed she had her necklace on-the one that prevented compulsion and other vampire stuff.

"Were you with him again?"

"Well, yeah." Elena said.

"So, how are things going with Damon?" Caroline asked Maria. She turned bright red.

"They're fine, why do you ask?"

"Uh, you guys didn't…you know…"

"Of course not!" Maria said. "Just cause we're dating, that doesn't automatically make me some kind of…"

"Okay, so at least he respects you." Bonnie interjected, causing the rest of the group to stare at her.

"Yo, can we save the chick drama for later?"

"Jeremy, how long have you been standing there?" Elena asked her brother.

"As long as the rest of us." The group turned around. While the group had been talking, Damon, Alaric, and Stefan had shown up.

"Okay, now that we're all here, we need to talk." Maria said. A few minutes later, the group was sitting on the benches or near the edge of the fountain.

"We think there's someone threatening us." Stefan said, getting right to the point. "We're not sure if it's just the four of us, or if it's the entire group here."

"And we have strong reason to believe it's another vampire." Maria said. "They got into our dreams, though we never saw who it was."

"Are you sure about that?" Tyler asked. "I know I'm kinda new to this group and all, but are you sure it was someone compelling the dream and not just some nightmare?"

"We're a hundred percent sure, Tyler. The four of us were sharing the same dream." Maria told him.

"But isn't compelling other vampires impossible?" The entire group looked at him.

"Yeah, your girlfriend should probably fill you in on the basics, wolf boy." Damon said.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Caroline said the same time Tyler said, "She's not my girlfriend!"

"People, focus!"

"Why do you think they're threatening you?" Jeremy asked.

"Because we heard them talking to us, saying there was nowhere we could hide from them." Elena said. Stefan put his arm around her shoulder.

"Then they set the Grill on fire. In the dream." Maria clarified.

"Is that why we're meeting here?"

"Well, I wanted to be careful. Setting the place on fire could've been some kinda warning sign." Maria said.

"Did any of you have a dream last night, where something weird happened?" Stefan asked. "I'm sure it wasn't the four of us that were effected by it."

"No way. I never take this off, even when I'm sleeping." Jeremy said, holding up his wrist.

"A bracelet?" Tyler asked. "You're so lame."

"It has vervain, idiot." Jeremy told him. "If someone wears it on them, vampires can't compel them or get in their head."

"It's true." Caroline told him.

"Okay, so Jeremy's out." Maria said. "Anyone else?"

"Not me." Tyler said.

"I haven't had one, either." Alaric added

"Probably cause you were still out on the couch." Jeremy said. "Might want to go easy on the drinking." For the past couple weeks, Alaric had been living with Elena and Jeremy. He'd unofficially become their guardian since Jenna and John had died and there were no other living relatives in town.

"Okay, so that leaves the girls." Damon said. "Either of you two have any weird nightmares or dreams?"

"No." Bonnie said. "Besides, my dreams don't work like that. When I do have a nightmare, it turns out to be a vision or something."

"Not to mention you've got a lot of spells and tools you use to keep anything dark out of your dreams." Maria said. The group looked at each other. Despite the fact they looked nothing alike, they acted as though they were sisters. Then again, one of Bonnie's ancestors helped Maria grow into her magic abilities, even after she turned.

"Okay, so no one except the four of us were…" Elena began.

"Actually," Everyone turned to face Caroline. "I had a dream. Last night. It was really weird, but I'm not sure I remember all the details."

"Then what good does that do?" Damon asked. Maria shot him a look before turning to Caroline.

"It's okay. Let's start with what you do remember."

"Well, I was at the school fair. I'm sure you guys remember the one." Caroline said. Maria nodded, remembering that was when she'd become a vampire.

"Wait, was that when you…" Tyler began. Caroline looked embarrassed, but nodded.

"Okay, so what happened?" Elena asked her.

"I can't remember most of the details." Caroline said. "I'm coming up with nothing."

"Maybe I can help." Maria said. "Elena, I might need a hand." Elena nodded, understanding.

Only the six of them knew about Maria's empathy ability. It was a power she'd had since before she turned. She could use it to calm people down, heal them emotionally. For reasons no one else knew, if another empathic person helped, it would make that ability stronger.

Elena took Maria's hand, while Maria held Caroline's. "Okay, Caroline. What stood out in the dream most to you?"

"I just remember being there and hanging out with some people from school." Caroline said. "Then, and here's where it gets weird, I see the place completely empty, like a ghost town. As though everyone had left."

"Okay, so everyone disappeared?" Stefan asked.

"It sure seemed like it." Caroline said.

"Then what?"

"I don't know. It's like I keep drawing a blank from there." Caroline said. She let go of Maria's hand. "I'm really sorry, you guys."

"It's okay, Caroline. At least now we've got something to work with." Maria told her. "For some reason, they've only tried to mess with the five of us, so they probably know who we are."

"Yeah, except they still went after us when Elena left. Either they're new at it…" Stefan began.

"Or they know at least four of us are vampires." Caroline finished.

"Here, wear this." Maria said. She handed out a few bracelets that she'd put vervain in. "It should be able to keep whoever's doing this out of your heads."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Caroline asked. "No offense, but wouldn't it fall apart if he..."

"Oh, right." Maria said. While she was planning everything, she'd forgotten about the fact that Tyler was a werewolf. "I don't think it'll be much of a problem, as long as he's not wearing it the night of a full moon."

"Hopefully it'll be easier to figure this out." Bonnie said. "I'll go through the spell books and see if there's anything else that might keep them out of our dreams."

"Yeah, except Blondie probably shouldn't be wearing that." Damon pointed out.

"Oh, please…"

"No, he's right." Maria said, interrupting before another argument could break out. "Look, Caroline, I know you're scared, but it's just until you can remember the other details of the dream."

"But…wouldn't that leave her vulnerable?" Elena asked.

"Not if we put a barrier around her house to keep the vampires from entering." Bonnie pointed out.

"That's a really good idea, Bonnie." Maria said. "We should probably do it with the others, too. We need to stay safe. If we see anything or get the feeling something's up, call each other. We can't be too careful this time, guys. I've got a really bad feeling about things."

"So do I." Bonnie said. "Whatever's going on, it feels like it's only the beginning."

"I'm still a little lost here, but if there's anything I can do to help you guys, I will." Tyler said.

"Thanks, Tyler." Caroline smiled.

"Just when we thought things were getting back to normal." Jeremy said.

"Well, who's going to do this if not us?" Maria pointed out.

"Okay, so everyone keep your eyes open and be careful." Stefan told them. "Whoever's out there, they know who we are."


	3. Dreams and Ideas

"Well, that was useless." Damon said, as he and Maria walked into his room.

"What do you expect? It's only been a day." Maria pointed out. They had spent the whole day searching for other vampires in town and in the forest. The group had split into teams, but had no luck finding anyone.

"Did Bonnie pick up anything with that tracking spell?"

"No, and before you ask, neither did I." Maria said. "Either they're good at hiding or they're immune to magic, but we can't pick up anything. Have you heard from Stefan or Caroline?"

"Yeah, they didn't have much luck either. Though given who they paired up with, it's not surprising." Damon said.

"Well, you know Tyler could probably track them better than we can." Maria said. "Besides, it's not like they'd spend the mission just making out in the woods. Caroline's a lot smarter than she looks, you know."

"Sometimes I wonder if it's a good idea to let the humans get involved at all." Damon said.

"There's gotta be a better way to find them." Maria said. "Have you tried contacting the Council?"

"Are you crazy?" Damon asked. "Have you forgotten that Sheriff Forbes could have me dead on the spot?"

"Oh, that's right." Maria said. The last few days leading up to the ritual, Matt and Sheriff Forbes had found out about the Salvatores and Caroline. They also knew about Tyler. The group had agreed to keep the supernatural stuff to themselves and only to their group, but still…

"Look, maybe I should talk with her." Maria said. "There could be a new threat to the town and we're going to need all the help we can get."

"Are you sure we can trust her?"

"She's our friend." Maria pointed out. "Besides, she's known the others long enough…"

"And to her you're just Bonnie's cousin." Damon interrupted.

"She doesn't know what I am." Maria pointed out. "She might be willing to help if I explain to her that we're not a threat."

"Hey, I know I might seem skeptic about all this, but…"

"When have I ever been wrong in this kind of situation?" Maria asked. "Trust me, everything will be okay." She sat down on the bed. He sat next to her.

"Have I ever told you're kinda hot when you take charge?"

"Well, we could all say the same about you." Maria pointed out.

"True, but you're the only girl I've ever really had feelings for."

"I'm shocked. Did Damon Salvatore just say he had feelings for someone?" Maria teased.

"Hey, I can be sensitive." He said.

"Prove it." He came closer to her and kissed her. She kissed him back just as passionately. It went on for a few minutes before they broke apart. Maria put her arms over his shoulders.

"I love you, Damon."

"I love you, too." They kissed again. Maria was lying down on the bed as he kissed her neck. She pulled away after a few minutes.

"Whoa, okay." She sat up. "This is a little too fast, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're right." Damon said.

"Look, I don't wanna upset you or anything…"

"Hey, it's fine." He told her. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I don't care what anyone says, you're a great boyfriend." Maria said as he held her.

"You're pretty awesome, too, you know." Maria pecked his lips. Then her cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Maria, it's me."

"What's wrong, Caroline?"

"I remember now." Caroline said. "I had the dream again."

"Are you okay?"

"Not really. I just figured out who's behind all this." She told her.

"You can tell us at tomorrow's meeting." Maria said. "We'll call the others."

"Okay. Oh, and I think I can help get my mom and Matt to help." Caroline said.

"I was thinking the same thing. I'll go with you." Maria told her. She hung up.

"So, what now?"

"How about we visit the field?" Maria asked.

"You sure that's a good idea after last night?"

"Relax, Bonnie and I spelled everyone's homes before we all split up." Maria explained. "You ready?"

Damon put his arm around her and they both leaned back in his bed. "I know I'm going to regret this."

"Yeah, but we could use this." Maria said.

The next thing they knew, they were sitting in the middle of a field. They stood up. "That was fast."

"Yeah, guess cause we were thinking at the same time." Maria said. Then she looked down at what she was wearing. "Man, guess I messed that up again." She was wearing her green dress from the eighteen hundreds.

"Are you going to wear that every time we come here?"

"Give me a second." Maria said. In a second, her outfit changed to a blue shirt with a black skirt and white jacket. "Now that's better."

"Wow, that's amazing." Damon said.

"It's a dream, remember? You can do anything here." Maria pointed out.

"So, wanna go for a ride?" Damon asked her.

"I don't know if…" Maria began, when she heard a whine. Then she turned around and saw two horses, a white one and brown one. "Wow."

"I heard you loved riding and taking care of horses."

"Guess you heard about my volunteer work at that stable." Maria said, petting one of them.

It wasn't long before they were riding their horses through the field and trees. After a while, they stopped at the other end of the field. "This is amazing." Maria said. "Thank you so much for this."

"Anytime." Damon told her. "It's been a while since I've done any riding."

"That's cause you turned down my offer to come riding with the rest of the group a few weeks ago." Maria said.

"In my defense, I didn't want to go with a bunch of girls."

"You're brother came." Maria pointed out.

"My point exactly." He told her.

"Damon."

"Kidding. Jeez, we're brothers, we tease each other sometimes."

"Can you two ever like not fight when I'm around?" Maria asked.

"Well, we've been getting along more lately."

"That's good to know." Maria said. "Ready to head back or…" Damon leaned over and kissed her gently.

"Sometimes I wish we didn't have to be on these cases, you know?"

"True, but then things would be boring." Maria pointed out. "No matter what happens, I love you. Nothing can keep us apart."

They found themselves back in Damon's room, side by side. "Ready to figure this out?"

"Yeah, but first…" She turned around. "I love you, too. I don't think I've been happier before." They kissed again before heading out of the room.


	4. She's Back

The group met up at the Boarding House that morning. "Okay, we're all here." Maria said.

"Yeah, I think we've noticed that. I double-checked to make sure." Bonnie told her.

"Okay, guys." Damon said. "Are we here to do a head count or figure this stuff out?"

"Alright, I remember everything." Caroline told them. "After everyone vanished or whatever, I found myself outside. Then I found Elena nearby."

"What was I doing there?" Elena asked.

"I had no idea." Caroline said. "But then something weird happened. You said something along the lines of, you backstabbed me, this is payback. Next thing I knew, we were fighting, like actually fighting."

"That doesn't make any sense though." Tyler said. "You two are friends."

"I wonder…" Stefan began.

"You have an idea?" Maria asked.

"Caroline, what did Elena look like in the dream? Before you started fighting."

"Well, she looked almost exactly like she normally does." Caroline said, indicating to her. "But there was something different about her."

"Different how?" Maria asked.

"She seemed darker, meaner, angrier than she usually gets." Caroline said.

"Even normally when she gets angry, she's kinda scary." Jeremy pointed out.

"True, but she'd never attack someone in cold blood." Bonnie said. "That much I'm sure of."

"Unless someone was threatening her, obviously." Maria said.

"Yeah, but I'd never attack one of my friends." Elena pointed out. "Besides, even if I were angry with them, I normally talk it out or write it down."

"Is there any reason you could think of why Elena would want to attack you, Caroline?" Damon asked.

"No way. I know Elena would never do anything to hurt me." Caroline said. "Then again, it was a dream."

"That was manipulated by some vampire that can clearly get into your head." Alaric said. As soon as it was out, Maria knew and glanced over at the others. When Stefan looked at her, he knew, too.

"You know who it is, don't you?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, and it's so obvious I can't believe I didn't see it before." Maria said.

"Okay, I'm still confused with all this." Tyler said.

"Think about it, guys." Maria said. "Elena attacking Caroline? Someone manipulating our dreams? Care, was there anything else in the dream that tipped you off that Elena wasn't Elena?"

"Not really…wait." Caroline said. "There was something. Her eyes looked really dark, almost as though they were black instead of brown. Oh, my…" In that instant, she knew she was right. That set everyone else off.

"Oh, great." Bonnie said.

"Not again." Damon groaned.

"Hasn't she messed with us enough?" Jeremy asked.

"Apparently not." Stefan told him as Elena wrapped her arms around him.

"What's going on?" Tyler asked.

"Katherine." Damon said. "She's back."


	5. Forming a Plan

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Tyler wondered to himself. The group was still sitting around the Boarding House.

"She's my doppelganger." Elena told him. "And a vampire."

"Of course. Now I remember." Tyler said. "That day Jules' pack went after you, they said she hung around Mason."

"She's the reason he started looking for the moonstone in the first place." Caroline told him.

"But he got sidetracked trying to get the three of us killed." Damon added. Tyler looked at them, stunned by this new information.

"I'm sorry, Tyler." Maria said. "He really was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hey, it's fine." He said, shrugging it off.

"You know, when we found out what Uncle John was up to, we couldn't stand him either." Jeremy told him. "But during the sacrifice, he put his life on the line to keep Elena human."

"I'm pretty sure that despite what happened, he wanted to keep you safe, Tyler." Elena added.

"So what are we going to do about her?" Damon asked, trying to get the group back on topic.

"I'm not so sure it's just her, Damon." Maria said. "Remember the dream the four of us had? The connection didn't break when Elena woke up and since she's human, it would've been broken right then if it were just one vampire doing it."

"So, what are you saying? That she's got a friend helping her?" Stefan asked.

"Maybe it was more than one." Bonnie said. "I remember Maria telling me something about how when there's more than one of your own kind, your power is stronger when you work with them. Like how witches spells are stronger when there are more witches involved."

"She's right, guys." Maria said. "The same holds true for vampires and possibly even werewolves."

"So you're saying she's got a whole group of them helping her?" Damon said. "This just keeps getting better and better."

"She's smart, though." Stefan pointed out. "There's no way she'd only turn a few people. She'd probably have at least twice as many people on her side than we think."

"She always loved having a back-up plan." Damon agreed.

"Last time she was in town, she tried to break us up." Elena said, holding onto Stefan.

"It's not going to happen."

"Besides, we've dealt with her before." Jeremy said. "We can do it again."

"Yeah, no one messes with us or our friends." Caroline said.

"Whoa, let's be smart about this, guys." Bonnie told them. "This is Katherine we're talking about. She's could have who knows how many vamps on her side."

"Bonnie's right. There's only nine of us and most likely a lot of them, plus Katherine herself." Maria said.

"So what are we supposed to do? We can't just sit around and wait for them to attack." Jeremy pointed out.

"Or let them try to destroy our lives. Not after what she made me do last time." Caroline added.

"I have an idea, but we're going to need help." Maria told them, glancing at Caroline.

"So what's your idea?" Alaric asked.

"I know it's crazy, but we need Sheriff Forbes on our side." She told them.

"But she hates what we are." Caroline said.

"She's just confused."

"We're probably going to need Matt, too." Tyler said. "Look he's our friend, he's the only other person who knows about us, and I know things are weird right now, but he's never let us down before."

"As much as I hate for him to get involved in this, he's right." Elena said. "We need all the help we can get with this."

"But how are we going to convince them to help us?" Caroline asked.

"I can help with that." Maria told her. "But I'm going to need you with me."

"Are you sure it'll work?" Tyler asked.

"I'm positive." Maria said. "I may not have been here long, but I'm not about to let some vamp girl that tried to ruin your lives before make another attempt at it."

"You really think we can do this?"

"We've gotten through it before and survived." Maria pointed out. "And this time, we're in it together."


	6. Counting On My Friends

Caroline was pacing in her house. "Calm down. It'll be fine." Maria told her.

"We don't know that." Caroline said. "For all we know, they could reject us."

"You need to think positive, Caroline. Trust me, they'll listen." Maria said. There was a knock at the door. Maria went over to answer it.

"Hi."

"Hey, is Caroline here?"

"Yeah, come in." The three of them sat down in the living room.

"So, what's so important that you had to tell me?" Matt asked.

"Matt, we're in trouble." Caroline said, getting right to the point.

"I assume you mean the others."

"It's not just them. They're targeting Elena, too." Maria told him. He looked at them.

"Look, I know you're mad at me." Caroline said. "Honestly, I wouldn't even blame you if you hated me, but we need your help, Matt."

"I understand why you lied, Care. I just don't know if I can…"

"Deal with it? Let me ask you something, Matt." Maria said. "Tyler's your best friend. Just because you found out he's a werewolf, does that mean you guys aren't friends anymore?" He just looked at her. "I know you're in shock, but the truth is, Care was helping him deal with all that."

"Okay, look, Care, I don't hate you, but I'm not sure about all this." Matt said.

"Matt, the fact is, all of your friends here are in trouble. The person who did this to Care is dangerous and she's vengeful." Maria explained. "And she's got some friends of her own."

"But I don't know how to fight." Matt told them.

"I was afraid of that." Caroline said.

"That's not going to be a problem." Maria said. "Jeremy and the others are training to take down Katherine and her friends. If you want to help, you can always join them. But if not, we're not going to force you to help us."

"Us? Are you…"

"I'm part vampire, part witch." Maria explained. "But I'm also a friend. I've only used my powers to help my friends, like Caroline and Elena."

"Yeah, I had a feeling you and Bonnie were closely connected. Guess that sort of explains it."

"So, are you with us or not?" Maria asked. "You don't have to decide right away." She got up and started to leave.

"Hold on." The girls looked at him. "I don't like this, but I'll help you."

"Matt…" Caroline began.

"Besides, I guess I've kinda been a jerk lately regarding everything about this stuff." Matt admitted.

"Hey, we've all been there." Caroline said.

"Still, I didn't want to upset you. Friends?"

"Of course." Caroline said. They embraced each other.

"Hate to ruin the moment, but do you know where the Sheriff's office is?" Maria asked.

At the department, Sheriff Forbes was walking down the hall. She paused, feeling like someone else was there, but shrugged it off. "Sheriff Forbes?" She turned around and saw Maria.

"Oh, Maria. What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if I could talk with you." Maria told her. "In private." Liz thought it was strange, but she allowed it and led her into her office.

"So, what's going on?"

"I know you know about Caroline and her friends." Maria said.

"Wait, how do you know about…"

"That's not important." Maria said. "Look, I know you were brought up thinking they were all bad, but Caroline's not a bad person. She saved Matt's life once. She's even saved yours."

"What?"

"Oh, right. You don't remember that one."

"What about the others?"

"The Salvatores took me in when I had nowhere else to go." Maria told her. "They've done nothing but try to help protect this town."

"Why did you ask to meet with me?"

"Because I need your help, and so does Caroline." Maria said. "We have reason to believe that a group of vampires are headed to town."

"For what reason?"

"We believe that they're leader has a personal grudge against us." Maria said.

"Us?"

"Caroline, the Salvatores, Tyler Lockwood, Bonnie Bennett, and the Gilbert siblings." Maria explained. "And me."

"You? But you're…" Sheriff Forbes cut off as Maria's vampire side surfaced. "You're one of them" She went to get her gun, but found it missing. "Did you…"

"I really hate weapons." Maria said. "Look, I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to try and hurt me. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Okay, so why are you asking me for help? I mean, you know what I could do to you if it turns out you're lying."

"Because I know you're one of the good guys, Caroline's you're daughter, and this town could very well be in serious danger if you don't." Maria said. "I know you believe we're all bad, but we're not. If we all work together, I'm pretty sure we can drive them off. But you don't have to help us if you don't want to…"

"If Caroline knows something about this…"

"She's still afraid of what you might do to her." Maria said. "But I'm sure she'll explain everything to you at home once you tell her about this conversation."

"I don't know exactly what's going on here, but since you've made your case and my daughter could be in trouble, I'll take it into consideration." She told her.

"Thanks, Sheriff Forbes." Maria said. She left the office.

Outside, she found Damon waiting for her. "So I'm guessing she's not willing to help."

"She's a tough case, that's for sure." Maria said, rubbing her wrist. Damon noticed it looked a little red.

"What happened?"

"My bracelet happened." Maria said. "I accidentally dropped it in vervain-soaked water, but I didn't know it at the time. That's why I'm not wearing it today."

Caroline was at home when her mom walked in. "Hi."

"Is it true that there's a group of them headed to town?"

"Yes." Caroline said. "And I'm worried that the leader might come after me first."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, she forced me to work for her after I turned and we kinda stabbed her in the back." Caroline explained. "Look, I know you don't like what I am, but my friends and I are in real trouble here."

"All this time I thought we were protecting you kids." Liz said. "It turns out, you guys were really protecting us."

"Are you with us or not, then?"

"It was never a choice. Nothing is going to hurt my daughter."

"Mom…" Caroline said.

At the Boarding House, Maria was just got off the phone. "Well, looks like she's on our side. And you thought it wouldn't work."

"In my defense, last time I saw her, she was giving me the death glare."

"You think that talk was easy?" Maria asked. "She probably would've shot me if I hadn't taken her weapon before our talk."

"How'd you…right, magic powers."

"Don't forget I could throw you across the room if I wanted to." Maria said.

"Hard to forget if you keep reminding me."

"Will you be serious? We could all be in trouble here." Maria said.

"I know that. I'm just not sure if we can…"

"We'll get through this. We all will." Maria said. "I'll make sure of that." She stepped out of the room and went into hers next door to his. She had a protection spell around the room to give her some privacy. She quickly dialed a number. "Hey, it's me. I need you to come to Mystic Falls right away."


	7. New Allies

A few days later, the group met back up at the Boarding House. Everyone was being very careful lately, since they had no clue when Katherine and her army would arrive in town. All of their houses were protected by a barrier spell, everyone was either wearing or drinking vervain, and when they weren't busy, they spent their time training in the woods together.

"So, why'd you call this meeting?" Damon asked.

"I've been looking at our progress over the last few days, and we're still not ready to take on Katherine and the others yet." Maria said. Everyone else groaned.

"No, Maria's right." Bonnie said. "I mean, we've been training together, but in order to face someone as strong as Katherine, we're going to need to work harder."

"So what are you getting at? We're not strong enough?" Tyler asked.

"Ty, they can attack at any time." Maria said. "If it's during the day, you won't be able to use your powers as strong and they could just as easily jump us at night."

"And if it's during a full moon, we're all screwed." Alaric pointed out.

"That's not going to happen again, Ric." Maria said, taking her boyfriend's hand. "Not after last time."

"Even if it did, Maria has the cure for it." Damon added.

"So, what are you getting at?" Elena asked. "If we're not ready, I mean."

"Katherine always has back-up, right?" Maria asked. "Well, we've got some back-up of our own." She looked to the doorway. "Come on in, guys!"

On cue, three people entered. A girl with long, black hair, wearing a bright orange long-sleeve shirt and jeans, who almost looked like a model, a guy with short brown hair wearing a green T-shirt and jeans, and a slightly shorter girl with light brown hair. She wore a purple top and denim skirt. Her headband kept her hair back.

"Maria!" The shorter girl ran over and hugged her.

"Hey, girl." Maria said. "I really missed you guys."

"So, these are the vamps you've been hanging around?" The guy asked.

Before Maria could answer, Damon cut in. "Whoa, how do you know that?"

"They know everything." Maria said. "Guys, these are some of my closest friends."

"And I'm guessing you're a werewolf, aren't you?" Tyler asked the guy.

"Wow, you're good." The guy said.

"Anyway, you clearly know who we or what we are." Stefan said. "So who are you guys?"

"Right. My bad." Maria said. "I'll get on introductions. Guys, this is…"

"I'm Allison." The model girl said, holding her hand. "It's so nice to meet you guys. I've heard so much about you."

"Ease up, Ali." Maria said. "Not everyone's accustomed to your…perkiness yet."

"Hey, we've dealt with Caroline this long, haven't we?" Elena pointed out.

"Hey!" Caroline shouted, offended.

"And this is Nathan and as you've guessed Tyler, he is a werewolf." Maria said.

"And you're Mason's nephew."

"You knew Mason?" Tyler asked.

"Who do you think taught him how to surf?"

"Did you also teach him how to…"

"Damon, not now." Maria said, cutting him off. "I'm sorry, it's just, my boyfriend doesn't really trust werewolves much. We've had a few very unfriendly encounters with some of Mason's old pack members."

"Yeah, those guys could be real jerks." Nathan agreed. "I cut ties with them when I found out what they were really like."

"And who's that?" Bonnie asked.

"This is Lauren." Maria said.

"Okay, and how can these two help?" Matt asked.

"Allison's a vampire." Maria stated. The group apart from Nathan and Lauren looked at her in disbelief. Then Maria smiled.

"Hey, guys!" Everyone turned around in surprise. Allison, who'd been near the doorway a second earlier, was now over by the bookshelf. The others were laughing.

"Okay, now that was awesome." Caroline said.

"I've had time to practice." Allison said. "We used to do that prank at parties."

Maria and Lauren went over to Bonnie. "So, what's special about her?" Bonnie asked.

"She's a witch, like us." Maria said. "But she has a little trouble with her powers."

"What do you mean, like is she in trouble or…"

"She's a starting witch, Bonnie. I've been teaching her small spells and stuff, but we're not sure if she can take on anything beyond that." Maria said.

"I want to help you guys, but I don't know if I'm strong enough yet." Lauren explained.

"So, how can we help?"

"That's where you come in, Bonnie." Maria said. "I need you to help train Lauren in magic while the others train with Allison and Nate." That got chaos started again.

"Are you kidding? Why'd you even bring her if she can barely defend herself?" Damon asked.

"Don't even go there. She's my friend." Maria said firmly.

"Seriously, man. What's your problem? Lauren's like a sister to us." Nate said.

"Yeah, and no one talks about her like that." Allison added.

"Everyone calm down." Stefan said, trying to keep the peace, but it didn't last long.

"Right, how am I supposed to do this?" Bonnie asked. "I could barely handle my own magic when I started practicing."

"That's not true. You had me." Maria pointed out.

"I don't see how you ended up with this guy, Maria." Allison told her.

"Hey, back off. She's our friend too, Allison." Caroline pointed out.

"So, I was friends with her long before you were."

"Ali, does that really matter?" Nathan asked.

"Shut up, Nate!"

"Enough!" Everyone turned to look at Matt. "Look, we are all in this for a reason, to prevent this Katherine person from starting a war in town, but we're never going to be able to face her if we're all fighting each other."

"He's right and besides, we need to get back to practicing." Maria said. "Now, I know some of us have more experience than others, so Caroline, you're with Allison. Tyler, you're with Nate."

"And the rest of us?" Jeremy asked.

"We'll figure out the arrangements later." Maria said. "For now, I want anyone that doesn't have a supernatural power to stick with the normal training schedule."

"Yeah, quick question, who are these guys again?" Lauren asked.

"She brings up a point." Allison said.

"Right. I forgot." Maria said. "Well, Ali, the blonde you just insulted is Caroline, so I suggest you apologize before things get even more out of hand."

Allison went over to Caroline. Lauren turned around. "Whoa. You have a lot of positive energy."

"Is that a good thing?"

"It usually is." Maria told Elena. She went over to Lauren.

"How can you tell?"

"Sometimes I pick up small vibrations, feelings. It's how I discovered my magic. Maria's been helping me with spells ever since." Lauren told her.

"I'm guessing that guy who keeps glaring at Nate is your boyfriend." Allison said. Maria turned, looking at Damon.

"Yeah, that's him."

"So you're the famous Damon Salvatore."

"How do you know about me?"

"Maria would always talk about you." Allison said.

"Okay, Ali, we get it!" Maria said, cutting her off there. Yes, she had a crush on Damon even before they met in Mystic Falls, the night she met Elena. It didn't mean that she wanted him to know that.

"I'm Elena." Allison got a good look at her.

"Wow."

"I know, we're completely identical on the outside, but nothing alike inside." Elena said.

"Yeah, Maria told us you were a whole lot nicer than her." Allison said. "I've never met this Katherine, but I did see a picture of her once."

"Allison, I think you might remember Stefan." Maria said. Allison turned to the guy next to Elena.

"Weren't you at that party in Italy?" Allison asked. He looked at her in shock.

"How did you know about that?"

"Maria dragged me over there. She wanted me to meet Lexi."

"I dragged you over there? It was your idea!" Maria pointed out.

"It was the eighties, how am I supposed to remember?" Allison asked.

"While bringing up memories is always nice, we're kinda in a situation here." Tyler pointed out.

"So, where are we supposed to practice?" Nate asked.

"I'll show you guys." Maria said. "Speaking of which, we all better get back to training soon." She began to leave the room, and then hesitated. "You're not all going to start fighting each other if I leave the room, are you?"

"I'll keep things under control here." Elena told her.

"We'll help her." Bonnie said.

"Thanks." Maria told them. She walked out of the room. She was getting ready to change into her workout clothes. Without turning around she said, "I know, I should've told you they were coming. I was worried you might try to pick a fight with Nate."

"Not that I don't appreciate the extra back-up, but a little warning would've been nice."

"I've already set up a place for them to stay while they're here." Maria told him. "Look, can you try to be cool around them? They're like my siblings. The four of us have been together for a couple years now."

"I can't make any promises, you know."

"I wasn't expecting you to." Maria said. "Now can you please let me change?"

"Hey, about what Allison said down there…"

"Can we please talk about it later?" Maria asked. She was already embarrassed enough.

"No problem." When she turned around, she was relieved to find Damon had left. She quickly changed and left the room.


	8. Practice

A few hours later, Maria had led the group to a field in the woods. "I found this area nearby. I think it'll work."

"Wow. This place is amazing." Allison said.

"What do you guys do if wood animals knock this stuff over?" Nate asked.

"It's not a problem. The whole perimeter is spelled so they don't mess up the training area." Maria explained. "It was Bonnie's idea. We just modified the barrier spell we did on the houses. Of course, you four will be practicing in separate areas. Originally we were going to use to school field…"

"Yeah, but that would've required us to compel everyone that passed by." Caroline said.

"Not to mention the sports teams that have summer practice." Maria added.

"You vampires are lucky you have that ability." Tyler said.

"Really, I've always been jealous of how much stronger you are than me."

"Can you guys have this quarrel later?" Maria asked them. "Okay, Caroline, Allison's going to help you out."

"I don't see why we need this. I can already fight."

"Yes, but you're still a new vampire." Maria said. "Katherine's got hundreds of years on you. And who knows how strong her little friends are? We don't know if she's using newly turned vamps or older ones."

"Point taken, though we're fighting them together."

"And in order to fight as a team, we need to be stronger than this." Maria pointed out. "You need to be as strong as the rest of us if you're going to help." She turned to Nate and Tyler. "Nate, I need you to help Tyler. And please take this seriously."

"Don't worry, I know how important this is." Nate said.

"Oh, come on." Everyone looked at Damon. "How is this guy supposed to teach Lockwood here what he already knows? Didn't he get enough training from Jules?"

"Nate knows what he's doing. Besides, he can control what he does as a wolf." Maria said. Everyone looked at him in shock.

"Is that true?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. It's kinda hard at first, especially on a new wolf, but not impossible." Nate said. "If it weren't possible, these two…" He indicated to Maria and Allison. "Probably wouldn't be here."

"Let's just get to practice." Maria said.

"Hang on." Caroline said. "What happened to Bonnie, Lauren, and Jeremy?"

"They all went back to her house." Elena said. "She thought Lauren would be more comfortable there."

"Okay, so you four will be training separately." Maria said. "Nate, Ty, you two will be practicing a few miles away from here."

"Come on. Our old family tunnels are near here, so we can practice near there." Tyler said.

"You know the area, lead the way." The guys left.

"Okay, let's see. Elena, let's have you and Matt practice sparing." Maria said.

"Wait, we have to fight each other?"

"Matt, you do realize it's just pretend, right? It's just to see how well you guys can fight on your own, but I'm not comfortable having you guys practice sparing with actual vampires yet. No offense, you two."

"None taken." The Salvatores said at the same time. They looked at each other.

"Let's do this." Elena said.

A few minutes later, she and Matt were fighting each other. "Man, how come you're so strong?"

"I used to be a cheerleader and I've faced vampires before." Elena pointed out. "And that's not counting the fact that I used to run track and have been lifting weights recently." She threw another punch, but he dodged her. He threw a weak punch back.

"Okay, okay. Matt, you need to try harder than that." Maria said. "You have to fight back. You think those vampires will go easy on you?"

"I know, but I feel weird about hitting one of my ex-girlfriends."

"You realize you're wearing protective padding so neither of you really get hurt, right?" Maria pointed out.

"Why do we need it anyway?"

"In case you humans go too far." Maria said. "No offense, but you guys can be even more aggressive than vampires sometimes."

"She kinda has a point." Elena said. "Remember when Tyler and Jeremy were fighting? And that was before Tyler was a werewolf."

"I won't even ask." Maria said. "Okay, Matt, I want you to at least try to take Elena down. Elena, you're on defense."

"Got it." She moved out of the way so the two of them could practice. This time, Matt managed to hold his own against her.

"What is with you?" Elena asked. "Are you afraid to hit a girl or something?"

"No."

"Well, you've got to try harder than this."

"I am."

"Really? Cause at the rate you're going, there's no way you can possibly…" Suddenly, Matt kicked her in the stomach, catching her off guard. "Oh, you are going to get it now!" They started fighting each other. Elena managed to dodge most of his moves.

"You can do way better than…" She ducked as he tried to hit her and grabbed his arm. "Sorry, I'm not falling for that one again."

"Isn't this an illegal move?" Matt pointed out.

"When dealing with this kind of enemy, there are no illegal moves." Elena told him.

"She's right, you know." Maria said. "Though sometimes I worry if some of Kat's personality rubbed off on her."

"You better be joking about that."

"I am." Suddenly, Matt surprised both of them and had gotten free while they were talking. Elena quickly turned around and the two started fighting again. They were both trying to block each other's moves, but not doing very well. Elena got jumped back as Matt tried to punch her in the chest.

"Nice try." This time, Matt really did hit her in the chest. They kept fighting until Elena attempted to kick Matt, but tripped, and they both ended up on the ground.

"Okay, that's enough." Maria said. She walked over to them. They were laughing. "Way to go, Matt. You're making progress."

"Thanks."

"Elena, you're really good, but you're defense needs a little work."

"No problem. I'll just keep working on it."

"Alright, you two keep practicing." Maria told them. "Once you get off the forest floor, anyway."

"Where are you headed?"

"I've got to do a little practice myself. It's been a while since I've had to get involved in a fight. Just keep practicing and you'll be good."

"You've been friends with her a while, is she always like this?" Matt asked.

"Sometimes, but you get used to it." Elena said. "I can't really explain it, but she always has a way of making you feel good about yourself."

"It's still a little bit weird."

"Trust me, the supernatural takes a while to get used to. But we learn to adjust. So, let's get back to practicing."

"Right." The two of them started sparing.

Maria looked around the forest. "You out  
here?"

"How do you always know where we are?" Stefan asked.

"If you've hung out with Lexi as long as I have, you tend to notice your friend's patterns." Maria pointed out.

"I'm surprised you decided to practice with me."

"I knew if I practiced with Damon, I'd end up getting distracted." Maria said. "Besides, we made a pretty good team before, remember?"

"How can I forget?" Stefan pointed out. "You practically jumped those vampires that tried to kick my butt that time."

"Let's do this." Maria said. She sped behind him, but he turned around and grabbed her arm.

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"You mean like this?" Suddenly she seemed to disappear.

"I thought you said you'd stop using that move." Stefan said. He turned around and still didn't see her. Suddenly, he ducked, avoiding Maria's punch from behind.

"You're getting better at that."

"Please, I practically know all your moves."

"That's not true. I've learned a few new ones." They continued to fight each other for at least a few hours.


	9. How I Learned to Trust

Nate and Tyler were fighting each other in the woods. "You're pretty good."

"I'm a receiver on the football team. Plus, I took karate with Matt when we were kids." Tyler said. "So, can we take a time out?"

"Sure. I'm sure you wanted to ask me something, anyway." Nate said.

"How did you meet Mason?"

"We knew each other in high school. He moved from this town." Nate explained.

"How old are you, anyway?"

"Nineteen. Same age as Maria." Tyler looked at him in shock. "I know, at her height she looks about eighteen."

"And how do you know of to control it?" Tyler asked.

"It's just instinct. You just focus on protecting your friends and go after those that oppose you." Nate said.

"And when did you first know you were a werewolf?"

"I don't know. It just happened. I was on spring break the first time I turned." Nate explained. "I was visiting Penn State, I was drunk, the next thing I know, I was with Maria and Allison."

"That's something I don't get. How did you know you could trust them?"

"I didn't." Nate told him. "Not at first, anyway. I remember waking up in some kind of living room after I turned, covered by nothing but a blanket. Maria explained things. At first I didn't trust them because they were vampires. It wasn't until they saved me I actually started to trust them."

"Save you from what?"

"Apparently some wannabe werewolf hunter, like the ones you see in the movies." Nate told him.

"There are actually wolf hunters?"

"I didn't know I had to be careful. He used to be my friend." Nate explained. "The girls saved me from him. I met Jules a few months later and she helped me adjust. Then I left the pack, and it was a good thing I did. The next time I ran into girls, they needed my help."

"Wow." Tyler said. "That's kind of similar to me. I didn't know the supernatural was real until Uncle Mason told me about the werewolf gene."

"Yeah. And given the circumstances, I'm guessing Katherine had something to do with you triggering the curse." Nate said.

"I didn't know it at the time, but she compelled a couple of my friends to fight me until I killed them." Tyler said. "I thought it was an accident. Then I noticed how strong Caroline was, and then I found out about her and the others. Care helped me get through my first transformation."

"You two became close, didn't you?"

"She kind of got me because it was similar. Of course, I messed up." Tyler said. "Jules and her pack nearly killed her because of me and if the Salvatores hadn't shown up…"

"Hey, we've all made some pretty stupid mistakes before." Nate pointed out. "Heck, if I'd trusted Ali sooner, maybe I wouldn't have nearly gotten myself killed."

"Speaking of, when did you meet Lauren?"

"The three of us were on summer break when we met her." Nate explained. "She was barely a high school freshman at the time. Now it's my turn to ask questions. I know you're still a newbie, but you don't want to hurt people. How did you avoid…"

"Mason used to chain himself up. I did the same." Tyler said.

"I see." Nate said. "It still hurts when you turn, right? After the first few times, it starts to hurt less and eventually the pain disappears."

"I didn't know that."

"I see Jules didn't teach you much."

"Well, I was only gone about a month. Then Klaus hurt my mom, so we ended up returning here." Tyler explained. "What about you? Any parents?"

"I've been on my own since high school." Nate explained. "Left home, pretty much didn't trust anyone. Meeting the girls changed that. They made me remember what it was like to be part of a family. Afterward, I ran into Jules' pack."

"It was really weird when I first found out about all this." Tyler said. "Some of the group still don't trust werewolves very much."

"Because you accidentally bit Damon?" Nate asked. Tyler looked at him. "Maria."

"Of course."

"But they all know you didn't mean it." Nate pointed out. "Trust me, you're not the only one around here that's made that mistake. I don't remember what happened when I first turned, but I might have hurt someone."

"I wish that Jules and her friends were more like you." Tyler said.

"Well, looks like they learned it the hard way." Nate said. "I heard most of the pack split up or got killed. Anyway, we better get back to practicing."

"Right. Our defense really needs some work." The two of them started sparring again.


	10. Training and Advice

"Whoa, okay, time out. We could both use a break."

"Good point." Caroline and Allison sat down for a while.

"You know, you're not bad for a rookie."

"Well, I've had to face werewolves and Katherine before." Caroline told her. "You have no idea what I can handle."

"You're a lot tougher than you look."

"Well, I did learn from the best and having Maria and the Salvatores as my friends didn't hurt."

"Yeah, I know. She just always seems to bring out the best in people." Allison said.

"How did you two meet, anyway?"

"We were best friends." Allison explained. "I was a party girl in college. We met at one of the parties. I thought she was just some shy freshman girl looking for a place to stay."

"Yeah, it took her a while to warm up to me, too." Caroline said. "All I knew about her was that she was the new girl posing as Bonnie's cousin. Sort of makes sense since I know they're both witches now."

"Yeah, when she told me she was a vampire, I thought she was joking." Allison said. "Then she saved me from getting jumped on my way home once."

"How long have you been a vampire?" Caroline asked.

"A while now." Allison said. "Actually, Maria's the one who turned me. We decided to travel together, but I got hurt pretty badly one day. Her spells weren't working, so she healed me the only other way she could. If it weren't for her, I'd really be…"

"Wow." Caroline said. "At least you were close with her. I barely knew Maria before I became a vampire."

"Well, she's always willing to help out friends that she meets, no matter how annoying you are." Allison said.

"Hey!"

"What? You remind me of me when I turned." Allison said.

"Yeah, at least you weren't turned by a psychotic doppelganger."

"Hey, things happen." Allison said. "Anyway, you seem close with that werewolf friend of yours."

"That's all we are, Ali. Just friends."

"Really? Cause I thought you two were together."

"Why would you think that?" Caroline asked. "Besides, I just broke up with Matt."

"Look, Maria told us about everything that happened in Mystic Falls while we weren't around." Allison said. "It's obvious that you like Tyler as more than just a friend." Caroline blushed. "Look, I get you need time to get over your ex, but if he can't accept you for all of you, maybe you should be with someone who does understand."

"That's pretty deep for a party girl like you."

"Well, I know from experience." Allison told her.

"Wait a minute, are you and Nate…"

"We're not talking about me here, are we?" Allison said. "My point is, love always finds us in the weirdest places. I mean, look at Maria. None of us thought she and Damon would finally become a couple."

"It's not that unbelievable." Caroline said. "They might be opposites, but she gets this part of him that none of us can."

"Exactly, Care. It is okay to call you that, right? I mean, we're friends, aren't we?"

"I guess. Maybe after practice we can go shopping." Caroline said.

"I'd like that." Allison said. "Anyway, why don't you show me your best moves?"

"Bring it on, eighties chick."

...

"How about you start by showing us what you know how to do?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, I only know how to do small stuff right now." Lauren told her. They were at her house with Jeremy and Matt.

"That's okay. Just show us anything." Jeremy said.

"Okay." Lauren looked around the room. She noticed a fruit bowl on the table. She concentrated and an apple started levitating.

"That's pretty cool." Matt said.

"It was one of the first ones I learned." Lauren said. She gently placed it back.

"You know, if you concentrate hard enough, I'll bet you can use it as an offense to keep the enemies away." Bonnie said.

"I don't know, I don't believe in using my powers to hurt others." Lauren said.

"Just think of it as pushing them back." Jeremy said. "Believe me, I'm not much of a fighter either, but I'd do anything to protect my friends."

"Come on, I'll help you out." Bonnie told her. She stood next to Lauren. She looked at Jeremy. "Sorry, you don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all, just don't do anything that could turn me into a tree or something."

"Okay, concentrate. Try pushing Jeremy back." Bonnie said.

"Got it." Lauren said. They focused their powers.

"Uh, guys? Was that supposed to happen?" Lauren opened her eyes, Bonnie had a hand over her mouth. Jeremy was floating in mid-air.

"Oops." Lauren said. "Guess that still needs work."

"Okay, let's just try and get him down from there." Bonnie told her. "Believe me, we've all made mistakes during our first try."

They managed to bring Jeremy back down. "You okay?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, that was a little weird though." Jeremy said.

"Sorry about that." Lauren said.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Besides, you just need a little more practice." Jeremy said

"Maybe we should try something a little easier." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, I have a feeling this could take a while." Lauren told her.

"You can do this, Lauren. Here, try this." Bonnie set a heavy book on the table.

"That's a lot of reading material."

"I want you to try and throw it at the wall using your powers." Lauren focused and managed to levitate the book off the table. She seemed to be straining.

"It's really heavy."

"Okay, stop." Bonnie said. Lauren set the book back on the table.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"When witches push themselves too far using magic, it can start to hurt them." Jeremy explained. "This stays between us, though. If the others found out, it'd put these two in danger."

"Got it. I won't tell anyone."

"When she said you were a beginner, I didn't know you struggled like this."

"I never told her." Lauren explained.

"Okay, why don't we try using this one? It was part of my summer reading assignment, but it only made me fall asleep." Bonnie said. Lauren concentrated again and managed to fling the book against the wall. "Nice work."

"Guys, was that supposed to happen?" Matt pointed to a spot on the wall. Apparently her magic had left a burn mark on the wall.

"I guess I can tell them it was a loose wire." Bonnie said.

"Sorry."

"Hey, it's fine, Lauren. I've had my own incidents. See that mark over on that wall? There used to be a picture frame over there." Bonnie told her. They all looked at the wall she was pointing at.

"Whoa." Lauren said. .

"You did that?" Matt asked.

"I always wondered what you used for practice besides Damon." Jeremy said. The others looked at him. "What? No one else really likes the guy and it did help with her with that spell."

"True." Bonnie said. "Though that was before Maria had feelings for him."

"Are you kidding?" Lauren asked. "Maria's always had feelings for him. Even before she turned."

"Whoa."

"You don't have to feel bad, though. She's used it on him a few times, too." Lauren said.

"Oh, right." Bonnie said. "I remember when they got into a nasty fight. It ended with her giving him a migraine that lasted for days, and that was before they started dating."

"Anyway, we should probably get back on topic."

"You're right. Okay, let's try the same spell again. This time I'll help you."

The two of them held hands and levitated the book. It managed to hit the wall this time. What they didn't expect was for it to shatter the window. "Was that supposed to happen?" Jeremy asked.

"It's okay, I can fix it." Bonnie said. She used a spell that automatically fixed the window.

"I have got to learn that one someday." Lauren said.

"Well, for now let's stick with defending yourself." Bonnie told her.

"Alright."


	11. Breaking Barriers and Coming Together

Over the next few weeks, the group continued to train with help from the others. Liz had been covering for the group at work, stating there were no new incidents since spring. Elena, Jeremy, and Matt continued to practice basic fighting techniques and learned how to use the weapons with Ric's help. Things really going well. Or so Maria thought.

It'd been about three weeks since they started training with her old friends and everyone was starting to feel the pressure. Nothing had breached the barrier yet, so Katherine and her friends hadn't shown up, but everyone was still on edge.

That was when the group had agreed to take a break and a few days off from training. "How are you doing, Lauren?" Maria asked when she met up with her old friends. The three of them were living at Sheila Bennett's former home. She and Bonnie talked it out and she agreed to let them stay there, but she moved all the magic artifacts and spell books to her place.

"I'm really improving." Lauren said. "Bonnie taught me how to channel energy from the earth."

"It seems to be her strongest element connection." Allison said.

"I know." Maria said. "I went through the same thing." She told them, remembering her days practicing with Emily.

"Speaking of, how'd Bonnie learn it?"

"Well, she actually started by drawing energy from candle flames." Maria explained. "I didn't meet her until after she started developing her powers, but she told me that her accidental spells would cause small fires and candles to light if she stared really hard or if she was angry."

"Wow. I wouldn't have wanted to know her in those days." Nate said.

"Hey, watch it, Nate, you realize you're in her Gran's home and that she too was a powerful witch?" Maria pointed out.

"Yeah, speaking of, when are we going to meet her?" Allison asked.

"Ali, she's not coming back." Maria told her. "Unless you want to try a séance." The others looked surprised. She explained a brief version of what'd happened, leaving out all the stuff about the tomb.

"Even before then, I promised her that I would help Bonnie and train her, even protect her if necessary." Maria finished. "I kept my promise and you all know I'd protect any and all of my friends."

"I'm sorry." Allison said. "I didn't know."

"I feel so bad for her." Lauren said.

"It happened about six months ago." Maria said. "And things just got worse after that."

"Still, it's scary when you feel like you're all alone." Nate said. "Even I know that." Allison put her hand over his.

"True, but at least Maria was there to help her afterward."

"Why wouldn't she? After all, didn't Emily train her?" Lauren pointed out. "It kinda makes them related."

"Well, for all I know, we could be." Maria said. "After all, we're both witches with a common past, and even though we may not be blood related, it almost feels like we're sisters."

"True, but that has nothing on us." Lauren said. "We're kinda like sisters, too. Like how all witches consider each other family."

"Well, I consider pretty much all of my Mystic Falls friends to be family." Maria said. "In fact, before I came here, I didn't know where I really belonged. It's as though this place brought me here."

"Yeah, I kinda felt that, too. When we all arrived here." Lauren said.

"So did I." Allison said. Nate nodded in agreement.

The next day, Caroline and Tyler met in town. "Hey."

"Hey."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Well, I was going to meet Allison at the mall." Caroline said. "You wanna come?"

"I wouldn't want to interrupt your girl bonding." Tyler told her.

"Oh, come on. It could be fun." Caroline said. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you about my mom helping us."

"I'll meet you there." Tyler said.

"Cool." Caroline said. She watched as he left.

"I saw that." She turned around to find Allison waiting for her. "You were so flirting with him."

"Uh, no, I wasn't." Caroline said.

"Care, it's okay if you like him." Allison told her.

"Yeah, but it's just so weird. I mean, yeah, I like him, but I also still like Matt." Caroline said. "He's probably still a little freaked about the whole "my ex is a vampire" thing."

"Actually, he seems to be getting over it." Allison said. "At least, that's what Maria and Elena have been saying."

"I just don't want things to be awkward between us." Caroline said.

"They won't be." Allison said. "Let's go." Caroline hesitated. "Come on, a little retail therapy never hurt anyone." She smiled and left with Allison.

Nate ran into Matt outside the Grill. "Hey."

"Hey."

"How's it been?" Nate asked. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Well, I've been busy between working here and training."

"I see." Nate said. "Hey, I know how weird this is. Believe me, I was scared of the supernatural stuff at first too."

"I'm not scared, I'm just in shock. I can't believe that my friends didn't tell me any of this."

"From what I've heard, it was pretty much all sprung on them, too." Nate said. "Caroline didn't find out until after Katherine changed her. Bonnie and Tyler's powers run in their families, though they didn't know they had powers until later. The Gilberts only found out because they met the Salvatores."

"Yeah, Elena pretty much explained it from the beginning. But what about Maria? Is she really related to Bonnie?"

"We're not sure, all we know is that she knew Emily and was sort of raised by her." Nate said. "We know nothing about her real life before she changed, other than that somehow, she ended up half vampire, half witch when it happened."

"Are you meeting Ty here or something?"

"Look, man. Maybe you should just spend some time with your friends again." Nate said. "Trust me, I know what it's like to feel out of the loop." Just then, he spotted Tyler walking over to them.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Not much, just talking."

"Yeah, it's been kind of slow here lately." Matt said. "Anyway, I have to get ready for work."

"Hey, is it okay if we hang out sometime?" Tyler asked.

"Sure, just let me know when." Matt headed inside.

"Is he still upset?"

"No, I think he's just surprised." Nate said. "So what's up?"

"Care wants me to meet her to talk about recent developments her mom found." Tyler said.

"Well, that's good news, isn't it?"

"Yeah, though it still feels weird between us." Tyler explained.

"Look, Ty, I know she likes you. She's just unsure because she also likes Matt." Nate said. "It's never an easy position to be in."

"Yeah, it's hard for me, too. Matt's my best friend and I don't want to hurt him, but I really like Care a lot."

"Maybe you two should just talk it out." Nate said. "I'm sure she likes you, too. Besides, from what I've heard, she could probably hold her own against you. Unless it were a full moon or something."

"Speaking of which, isn't there one coming up soon?"

"You'll be fine, Tyler." Nate said. "Cause I'm going to be right there with you when it happens this time."

The rest of the group was in the park. "I always loved going to the park when I was a kid." Lauren said. "I always felt connected to nature, you know?"

"Really? I felt the same way back when I was in the garden as a kid. The girls and I used to play back there all the time." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, same here." Lauren said. "I might be the youngest of the group, but I'm strong."

"How'd you meet them anyway?"

"They came to Georgia last summer." Lauren said. "I'd gone to visit my aunts and found out my sister had been the one taking care of me. It became our home when the Originals were in Mystic Falls."

"And when you discovered your powers?"

"We were in hiding. Maria was telling me to stay safe. I could tell she was trying to protect me from something. I ended up casting some kind of shield spell to prevent them from getting in. It was like a nature barrier went up, or something. That's how we found out I was a witch."

"Whoa." Bonnie said. "Kind of intense, isn't it?"

"Not as much as setting a car on fire."

"Yeah, only it happened in public."

"I want to try something." Lauren walked over to a patch of grass and put her hand over a leaflet. Within seconds, it bloomed into a flower.

"Whoa. That was amazing." She turned and saw that Elena had joined them.

"It was nothing, really." She said.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Lauren. You're good with magic."

"Thanks." Lauren blushed.

"She's really shy, you guys." Bonnie said. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"We were kind of hoping to run into Maria here." Elena said. "There's something we wanted to talk to her about."

"Well, I haven't seen her." Bonnie said. "We came here to go over a few nature spells. Maybe Allison knows where she is."

"Hey, it's fine." Elena said. "I'm sure we can always call her."

At the mall, Caroline and Tyler met in the food court. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Mom said it's been quiet lately." Caroline said. "Which is why I'm worried. She's got the others searching the perimeter of the town for vampire activity."

"Yeah, I know it's hard. We'll get through this." Tyler said. "I ran into Matt this morning."

"Really? How is he?"

"Still getting over it, I think."

"Oh."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just…I feel like he can't stand me these days." Caroline said. "I don't even care that we're not together anymore, I just couldn't stand it if he hated me forever."

"He doesn't hate you, Caroline." Tyler said.

"How's it going?" Nate asked. He and Allison were watching them from a distance.

"I don't know." Allison said. "It just feels awkward right now."

"Anyway, I know he's the first guy you've been with that you've really liked." Tyler said. "Maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. But any guy would be lucky to have you as a friend. Maybe more."

"You really think that's true?" Caroline asked.

"Of course." Tyler said.

"Thanks, Tyler." She smiled. "You know, we may have had our differences, but you're a really good friend, Tyler." She kissed him on the cheek before getting up.

"You leaving?"

"Yeah. I promised I'd meet Mom at the office today." Caroline said.

"I don't want to hold you up."

"See you later, Ty!" She called as she left.

"So, how'd it go?" Allison asked as she caught up to her.

"I think we'll be able to handle anything." Caroline said.

"I saw what happened in there, you like him."

"Okay, fine. I like him. So what?"

"He's so into you, Care. Why don't you see that?"

"Look, I like Tyler, but I'm not ready to start dating right now."

"How'd it go?"

"I think you were right, man. But it still feels too soon."

"Hey, from what I saw, she's not looking for a relationship right now, anyway." Nate said. "But still, I think she really likes you."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Tyler told him.

Meanwhile, Maria was in her room. She liked that the others were bonding, but was worried since they all had such different personalities. Sighing, she closed her journal and was putting it away when there was a knock at her door. "You can come in. I know you're there."

"Hey, are you okay?" She turned around and found herself face to face with her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just a little worried about things." Maria said. "Like this whole thing, what if it doesn't work out? What happens if we're still not strong enough to face them?"

"I used to have the same doubts back before…you know." Maria nodded. "One of the things I learned from fighting there is that when you're in the middle of a fight, you don't have time to think, you just do it."

"Still, the problem is that Katherine could outsmart us again." Maria said. "I've been thinking of some new strategies on how we can take them down and somehow get her by herself. I didn't get any warnings yet, though."

"How does that work, anyway?" Damon asked. "Communicating with them in the dream world?"

"I always assumed it was because I was a witch." Maria said. "But it didn't really start happening until after I turned. When everything else got heightened, I guess my psychic abilities did, too." She looked at him. "For now all I've got is figuring out how we're going to get through this."

"Well, you're doing a great job of it so far." Damon told her. Maria said something in a foreign language he didn't understand. He was used to it. Sometimes when she was nervous, she'd start speaking in a different language.

According to what she'd told him, she spoke five languages besides English: Japanese, Italian, French, and American Sign Language, plus a little Spanish.

"You're doing it again, Mi Bello Fiore." He told her.

Maria apologized.

"Nessun bisogno di scusarsi" He told her. "E' una delle cose che mi piace è."

"Che cosa si intende?" She asked, blushing. That was another quality he loved about her. Somehow, it made her even more pretty.

"Si" He answered honestly. Not that he could ever lie to the woman he loved most. She wrapped her arms around him. He returned her embrace.

"Te amo, Damon."

"Ti amo, troppo, Maria." She leaned her head against his chest.

"Excuse me." They turned to the doorway. "I hate to interrupt, but we have a slight problem." Stefan told them. He headed downstairs.

"We better go. We can continue later on." Maria said.

"Sounds like a date." She playfully hit his arm.

"If you say so." They started to head for the doorway. "Hang on." She turned around and lightly kissed Damon. "Now let's go." They headed downstairs. Well, technically, Maria practically had to drag him by the arm. The kiss had caught him by surprise.

They found Elena and Bonnie in the living room. "What's going on?" Maria asked.

"Katherine got into my dreams." Elena said.

"How's that possible? You never take that off." Damon pointed out.

"Well, apparently, she found a way to get in." Bonnie told them.

"Might want to tell them the rest of it." Stefan said.

"Anyway, she threatened me. She said if I didn't break up with Stefan, she's going to go after Jeremy."

"It's more serious than that." Bonnie added. "She managed to get in while she was on vervain."

"Because she's immune to it." Maria realized.

"I don't want to put everyone else in danger, but if I do what she says, then…"

"May I?" Maria sat down next to her. She touched Elena's arm and gasped.

"You okay?" Stefan asked.

"Fine. Just wasn't prepared for that shock." Maria told him.

"So what's up?" Damon asked.

"She's only messing with you. From what I can tell, she had to project herself into the dream from somewhere pretty far away, which is almost impossible for a normal vampire to do, even with help." Maria told them. "It obviously took a lot of power to do it and if it's one thing I know, no matter how old the vampire is, even if it's just for few seconds, using that much energy will cause them to burn out."

"What if she messes with the others?"

"That's not going to be a problem." Maria said. "We can put a protection spell on everyone. That way, even if she attempts it again, it'll be like she hit an invisible barrier."

"You know how to do that?" Bonnie asked.

"I wouldn't suggest it otherwise."

"How do you know she won't try to attack us directly?" Damon asked.

"Because when I touched Elena, I found her location." Maria told him. "She's exactly fifteen thousand miles away from town."

"You could tell that just from touching her?" Bonnie asked.

"It's taken practice, but yeah. Comes in handy when I take on enemies that've attacked my human friends."

"Well, we're far from being a normal group." Stefan pointed out.

"I don't think any of us were normal in the first place." Elena said. "I mean, I'm a doppelganger, half my friends are vampires or vampire hunters, Bonnie's a witch, Tyler's a werewolf, and Maria's a witch and a vampire."

"And somehow, we all just sort of fit." Maria said. "Okay, so I think we can manage the protection spell and then we're just going to have to be really careful. Okay, ready?"

"Yeah." They did the spell. Maria focused on protecting all of her friends. She nearly collapsed when they were done.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting to use that much power at once." Maria told them.

"Maybe you should lie down." Damon said.

"Yeah, you look kind of tired after that one." Stefan agreed.

"Alright, I'm going. But I want to call a meeting tomorrow."

"No problem. We can get everyone here." Elena said.

Maria headed upstairs and lay back on her bed. She just couldn't shake the feeling that the meeting would be a disaster.

**A/N: Man, that was a tough chapter, especially since the web translator I used kept kicking me offline. This is what Maria and Damon were saying during their brief scene together.**

Mi Bello Fiore-My Beautiful Flower

Nessun bisogno di scusarsi-No need to apologize

E' una delle cose che mi piace è.-It's one of the things I like about you

Che cosa si intende?-Do you mean it?

Si-Yes

Te amo-I love you

Ti amo, troppo- I love you, too

**Anyway, seems like Maria's getting another one of her predictions again. Let's hope she can manage to keep the peace at the meeting. I will try to get the next chapter up ASAP, but the internet connection's been really slow lately.**


	12. Campout Part I

**A/N: Sorry about the late update. This chapter was taking me so long that I had to split it in two. The second part will be uploaded in a few days. I clearly don't own TVD, I only own Maria. **

The Boarding House was in chaos. Maria came downstairs to find everyone arguing with each other. "What in the world…."

"I have no idea how this happened." Elena said. "The second Jeremy and I walked in, it turned into chaos."

"Oh, man." Maria said.

"At least my closet isn't full of clothes from the disco." Caroline said.

"Excuse me? Have you seen how boring your wardrobe is?" Allison asked.

"Boring?"

"Okay, someone separate these two before it gets uglier." Someone called from the back. Maria realized it was Matt.

"At least I'm not still dating a pathetic human."

"Some of my friends are those 'pathetic humans' as you call them!" Caroline yelled. "And we are not dating!"

"Look, I told you, I'm not in league with those idiots from before. In fact, leaving them was the best decision I ever made." Nate said.

"Right, then how do explain the broken window over there?"

"I don't know, but I had nothing to do with it."

"He's telling the truth, man. I was with him all night." Tyler said.

"No one asked you're opinion."

"Hey, back off, man. That's my best friend you're talking to." Matt pointed out.

"Thanks, man." Tyler said.

"Please, don't listen to this guy. I never understood what Maria saw in you." Nate said.

"Uh oh." Allison ran between them.

"You have to go through me first." She said.

"Ali, be careful." Lauren said.

"Why defend her?" Bonnie asked. "She's a jerk if she considers herself above us."

"Don't talk about her like that! She's practically a sister to me!" Lauren said. "But you wouldn't know that since you don't have any siblings or anyone to teach you anything!"

"That is not true." She replied in a soft voice.

"Cause you have Maria? Please, Maria takes pity on anyone." Allison said.

"That's not true. She's just as connected to Emily as I am."

"Okay, that's it!" Maria got into the center of the room. "Enough!" She yelled, getting everyone's attention. "What is wrong with all of you? We're supposed to be a team. How can we work together if all we're doing is arguing?"

"We can't." Elena said.

"Exactly." Maria noticed Lauren. "Yes, Lauren?"

"Um, yeah, about the broken window, that was my fault." Lauren said. "My magic really needs some work."

"That still doesn't mean I trust this wolf kid." Damon commented.

"Please, no less than how I trust you vampires." Nate said. "I mean, Ali's different, but we're still better off without you."

"Are you out of your mind, Nate?" Caroline yelled. "Even you can't take on hundreds of vampires at once."

"Yeah, though you'd be surprised how strong he is even without the full moon." Tyler said.

"Whatever. The point is, we can't go off on our own right now!"

"Since when are you in charge?" Allison asked.

"Someone has to step up." Caroline pointed out.

"This is what I'm talking about." Maria said, intervening. "I have had it with the constant fighting. You've been arguing for two days straight and I'm not going to stand here while you all try to kill each other."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Elena asked. She looked across the room at Stefan, who'd been trying to break up a fight between Jeremy and Nate.

"Man, we really can't work together at all here." Jeremy realized.

"Because you guys don't know each other all that well." Maria pointed out.

"What are you thinking?" Allison asked.

"I'm organizing a bonding trip. All twelve of us, in the woods, together." Maria said. "I've already approved it with Sheriff Forbes."

"You invited my mom?"

"Care, do you really think I'd go on an overnight trip in the woods without having adults present?" Maria asked. "Someone's gotta be there to keep a fight from breaking out, considering how well this "meeting" is going." She headed out of the room, aware that everyone was watching her leave.

"Well, like it or not, guys, it looks like we've got some packing to do." Bonnie said as soon as she was gone.

"You mean we're actually going through with this stupid idea?" Nate asked.

"Guys, Maria's right. This is getting out of control." Elena pointed out. "We need to do this or we'll never be able to stop Katherine."

Maria was in her room, leaning against her bed. She couldn't believe how things were falling apart. There was a knock at the door. "Damon, if that's you, I'm really not in the mood right now."

"It's not Damon." She heard another guy's voice say. She got up and opened the door.

"Let me guess, checking in on me?"

"Hey, I'm always there if you need me. We all are."

"I just can't believe this mess. I never expected the friction between our groups to get so out of control."

"Yeah, I know. We had a similar problem getting Tyler on our side." Stefan reminded her.

"This better work. I don't know what else to do." Maria said.

"Well, I think it's a good idea." Stefan told her.

"You knew the whole time, didn't you?"

"I always noticed that you hesitate before going into the woods, except for that ritual."

"You guys needed me and I wasn't going to leave Elena in danger." Maria pointed out. "I still get a little uncomfortable sometimes."

"At least we'll all be out there together."

"Yeah, though it's probably going to be awkward, considering Matt's still being distant and Sheriff Forbes is still getting used to the idea of us being the good guys." Maria pointed out. "I know it's hard confronting a person who has to change their whole outlook after living with believing something else for a long time."

"Hey, we've all come a long way, though."

"You're still practicing control with Elena, right?" Maria asked. "She told me."

"Yeah. And you've become a lot stronger since after you returned to this town." Stefan pointed out. "Not to mention you've helped everyone here. Even Damon's changed a lot because of you."

"I know." Maria said. "Well, I need to start packing. This trip is going to be a little rough."

"How much further do we have to go?" Caroline asked. The group was walking through the woods in the middle of the day.

"If you're tired, you can always turn around." Allison said.

"No, we're all in this as a team." Maria said.

"I was only asking because it looks like Matt's about to pass out."

"I thought you said he was a quarterback." Allison said.

"I am." Matt said. He stopped by a tree. "But it's hard to keep up with all of you sometimes."

"You all need to calm down." Nate said. "The campsite's only a few miles away from here. We should see the clearing ahead soon."

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Tyler asked.

"I've spent a lot of time in the woods before." Nate said.

"Well, we'll be there soon." Maria said. "Whoa, Ric, Sheriff, think you can give Matt a hand?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're hurt." Maria said. "I can tell. Ali, you, Nate, and Care go on ahead. I'll wait for the others."

"Good idea." Allison said. The three of them went into the woods.

"I understand why I had to leave, but why did you?" Caroline asked.

"The scent of blood makes her sick." Nate explained.

"It's true." Allison said. "Just the smallest amount makes me want to throw up. I drink from bags, like Maria. I never feed off humans, so when they get hurt, I get sick."

"Wow." Caroline said. "Good thing you weren't planning to be a doctor."

"When I was little, I wanted to, but I was an art major." Allison explained. "I did fashion design a few years before I turned."

"That explains so much." Caroline said. She was always wearing designer clothes, but they always seemed to be handmade.

"Yeah, she always was the creative type." Nate said.

"You okay?" Elena asked as Maria, Liz, and Alaric helped Matt with his leg.

"Nothing I can't handle." Matt told her.

"Well, at least the bleeding's stopped." Liz said.

"Good thing you had that first aid kit on hand." Alaric pointed out.

"I like to be prepared for everything." Liz told him. Maria shot her a nervous glance. Even though she trusted the Sheriff with their secret, she was still worried for everyone's safety.

"Here, I think I can help." Maria said. She handed Matt a box.

"What is that?" Elena asked her.

"They're healing herbs." Maria explained. "They'll help you heal faster."

"How do you know so much about…right."

"Actually, I worked at the Botanic Gardens for a while before returning to Mystic Falls." Maria told them. "I did a lot of research on plants that can help heal others and cure even the most impossible things."

"Is that how you managed to develop the cure when Tyler…" Elena began.

"Yeah, I'd been working on that one for a long time." Maria said, cutting her off. That was one moment she didn't want to relive. "I used it to heal Allison several years earlier."

"You mean she got bitten by a wolf before, too?" Elena asked.

"We encountered another one in the woods after saving Nate. I wasn't going to lose my only vampire friend in years because of some stupid werewolf." Maria said. "I remembered reading something in Emily's spell book once."

"So that's how you created the cure or potion or whatever."

"Hey, I heard what happened from Ali. Anything I can do?" Tyler asked, joining them.

"Yeah, he might need to stay off that leg for a while." Elena said. The others looked at her. "It was in Maria's medicine journal. She lent it to me when we were studying biology."

"She's right." Liz said. "It might be painful to walk on."

"But we have to get him to the campsite." Maria said. "I'd offer, but he's still getting used to this."

"I can help him." Tyler said.

"Ty…"

"Don't, Matt. Let me help you out here." Tyler said. "You helped me when I broke my ankle during try-outs. Let me help you this time."

Matt looked at his best friend. "Okay."

"Alright, guys, go easy on him." Maria said. "Elena, you get on his other side, help Tyler out." A few minutes later, they were helping Matt walk to the campsite. Elena and Tyler were on each side of him. The others followed behind.

"You know a lot about medicine." Liz said.

"I've had a lot of time to study." Maria pointed out.

Lauren and the others had fallen a bit further behind. "Well, that's just great. We lose sight of the others and fall behind." Jeremy said. "I'll bet even the guys had made it to the site by now."

"You need to be more positive, Jeremy. Not everything is hopeless."

"Bonnie's right, Jer. You need to think about more positive…" Lauren began. Just then she tripped, however, she was caught by a pair of arms in front of her.

"You okay, little one?" Lauren looked up at her rescuer.

"I'm only five foot two." She pointed out. "And I'm fifteen."

"That explains why you're always with Ali and Nate." Bonnie said. "Aside from the family bond you guys have."

"And why she's so defensive about them and herself." Jeremy said. "She kind of reminds me of a younger version of Elena, only with powers."

"Is that a good thing?" Lauren asked them. She knew Elena was stubborn and would protect her friends like her life depended on it.

"It depends on the situation." Damon said. Bonnie glared at him.

"Don't insult my best friend."

"Or my sister." Jeremy added. They glanced at each other, blushing.

"You two are a couple, aren't you?" Lauren asked them.

"You know?" Damon said, surprised she picked up on that.

"I've always been able to tell when two people are in love with each other." Lauren said. "It's part of why I trust you. You love Maria and I know you wouldn't let anything happen to her or the others. And I'm usually protective of her, she and Ali are like the sisters I've never had."

"Wow, for someone a few years younger than us, you're pretty wise for your age." Jeremy said.

"She's only younger than you by a year, Jer." Bonnie pointed out. "But you are pretty smart for your age."

"It's a gift I guess." Lauren said, shrugging.

"You know, you're a lot like Maria was when she started learning magic."

"You would know." Bonnie said.

"Anyway, you know where the campsite is, right?" Jeremy asked. "Cause I think we're kinda lost." He looked at the map again.

"Don't you use a compass with these things?" Lauren pointed out.

"We didn't have one."

"Anyway, the campsite's just ahead of here. You need to turn right at the end of the path." Damon told them.

"If I were good with tracking spells, we would've made it there by now." Lauren said.

"Hey, you're still new at it. It took me three months to learn that one." Bonnie said as the four of them headed off in the direction he'd indicated.


	13. Campout Part II

**A/N: Here's the second part of the camping chapter. I don't own TVD and I also don't own either Love Song or Beautiful. Those songs belong to Sara Bareilles and Christina Aguilera. **

That night, the group was sitting around a campfire. Alaric went over and sat next to Liz. "I know how awkward this must be for you."

"I just don't know how you do it." Liz said.

"Well, you just need to see the part of them that's still human." Alaric said. "It's why you trust your daughter, right?"

"I guess. I just couldn't believe it when I found out at first." Liz admitted.

"But she wouldn't hurt anyone, and neither would the others."

"Well, I know that now, but it's still a little awkward."

"So, how's work?" Caroline asked.

"It's been a little slow due to being summer break and all." Matt explained.

"You'd think they'd have more people coming in." Jeremy said.

"What about having some events going on?" Tyler suggested. "You know, like live entertainment, karaoke night, a pool tournament…"

"That's a great idea." Matt said.

"Well, at least someone's getting along out here." Elena said. Maria looked at the others. No one was saying anything.

"Oh, man. You did not bring that out here." The group turned to find Allison arguing with Nate.

"Hey, an artist needs to play sometimes, you know?" Nate said. He was holding an acoustic guitar.

"You play guitar?" Tyler asked.

"It's an old hobby." Nate explained.

"He's been playing for as long as I've known him." Maria said. "He's pretty good, too."

"Okay, if you all must know, I used to be part of this small garage band." Nate said.

"Wait, you were in a band?" Damon asked.

"Is it really that unbelievable, Damon?" Allison pointed out. "I mean, I was a fashion student before I changed and then I got involved in a band for a little while too."

"Were all of you in a band?" Caroline asked.

"Not me." Lauren said. "I'm more into drawing sketches of nature, clothing, and writing."

"So you're a writer, too." Elena said.

"Sort of. I write down my thoughts sometimes. Maria gave me my journal after I discovered my powers." Lauren said.

"I still can't believe he brought that guitar on this trip."

"Ali, you promised you'd be cool with it." Maria pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's really annoying."

"I can't believe this is happening again." Maria said.

"What were you expecting?" Damon asked. "For us to all hold hands and sing Kumbaya?"

"I don't play campfire songs." Nate told him, looking offended.

"Campouts are not even our thing. The only reason we came on this trip was to end this stupid feud." Allison told them.

"Can you guys not argue about it for once? I feel like every time we take a trip somewhere, you always fight about it!" Lauren said.

"Yeah, it's not my fault he's an idiot for bringing it on every single trip we go on!" Allison said.

"Uh, oh." Maria said.

"Hey, my music's just as important to me as everything else is." Nate said.

"Yeah, right. Just cause I used to sing and play myself, you don't see me holding onto my electric all the time." Allison pointed out.

"Yeah, because you became all uptight and lame when you became a vampire." Nate said.

"You better take that back, Nate!"

"Get it together, you two!" Maria said. "We've got company present."

"You make me so mad sometimes, Nate, that I…"

"What? What are you going to do?" He asked her. He started to play a few notes. She decided to challenge him then.

"Head under water," Allison started singing. "and you tell me to breathe easy for a while." Everyone was looking at her.

"Great, here they go again." Lauren said.

"They have sing-offs often?" Bonnie asked her.

"Only when they get really angry with each other."

"Blank stares at blank pages No easy way to say this You mean well, but you make this hard on me." She sang, glaring at Nate. By the time she got to the chorus, everyone was impressed with her voice.

"If all you got is leavin, gonna need a better reason to write you a love song today." Allison sang, looking directly at Nate.

"I learned the hard way That they all say things you want to hear." He sang back, surprising everyone.

"Whoa, your friends are good at this." Caroline said.

"We used to do karaoke nights." Maria said.

"And your twisted words, your help just hurts. You are not what I thought you were." Hello to high and dry." Allison looked at him. "Convinced me to please you,"

"Made me think that I need this too," Allison sang, responding to him. "I'm trying to let you…"

"Hear me as I am!" They both sang. "I'm not gonna write you a love song 'cause you asked for it 'cause you need one, you see…" They continued to look at each other as they sang. "If your heart is nowhere in it I don't want it for a minute. Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that there's a reason to write you a love song today."

"Today." Allison sang the last line of the song.

The rest of the group cheered when they were finished. "Wow, that was amazing, you guys." Caroline said.

"I had no idea you could sing like that." Tyler said.

"You don't always know everything about a person." Nate pointed out.

"Well, that's true." Matt said. Maria glanced over at him. "It's a little weird, though. How it almost seems normal."

"Have you not been paying attention?" Caroline asked him. "We are normal, Matt, just different."

"Look, I really don't feel like getting involved in another fight right now, so can we try not to step on each other here?" Maria said.

"Didn't mean to offend anyone." Matt said, putting his hands up. "I'm still getting used to this."

"So, are we okay or not?" Caroline asked him. "Cause it feels like most of the time, you've been avoiding us."

"Look, I understand why you kept this secret. I know you're still you, but…"

"I get it, you can't be with a girl that's a vampire." Caroline said.

"No, that's not…"

"Then, what are you…"

"I still like you, Care." Matt said. "But with everything else going on, this fight we're preparing for, my constantly changing work schedule, I don't see how we can make it work right now."

"Hey, you've still got us." Bonnie pointed out. Caroline looked at her, smiling, though Maria could tell she was hiding how sad she was.

"Is that how you felt before…" She turned and looked at her boyfriend. His blue eyes seemed to be full of concern and guilt.

"Hey, it all worked out, didn't it?" Maria pointed out. "I wish we could help her, though."

"Ali's not the only one here with a singing talent, as I remember." She blushed, remembering the times when she stayed as guest at their house, when Damon caught her singing to herself on the roof.

"Yeah, only because you were eavesdropping on me." She pointed out, laughing.

"Someone had to watch your back when the others were asleep."

Maria got up and headed to Allison's group. "You felt that, didn't you?"

"Caroline's emotions? Yeah." Lauren said. "We have to cheer her up."

"I know." Maria said. "She's not the only one, though. I can still sense a lot of tension and unease in the group."

"What can we do?" Lauren asked.

"I have an idea." Maria told them. "Nate, we need you're guitar again."

"Oh, you're not going to…" Allison began.

"It's Care's favorite song, I'm doing it." Maria said. "Either help or don't, but she's my friend."

She walked over and sat down next to Caroline. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Is it weird that I still feel like a freak around Matt?"

"You're not, Care. That's the important thing. I know how awkward this is now, but you can move on from this."

"I know, but feels too painful." Maria glanced over at the others and nodded. Nate started playing the guitar.

"Everyday is so wonderful." Maria began singing. "And suddenly, it's hard to breathe. Now and then I get insecure, from all the pain. Feel so ashamed." She grabbed her hand. "You are beautiful no matter what they say."

"Words can't bring you down." Allison and Lauren sang, joining Maria.

"You are beautiful in every single way." Maria sang. "Yes, words can't bring you down."

"So don't you bring me down today." Caroline sang, joining in. It wasn't long before the rest of the girls joined in and sang with them.

"We are beautiful in every single way, Yes words can't bring us down." The group sang.

"Don't you bring me down…today." Stefan walked over to where Matt was sitting. "How are you doing with all this?"

"It's a little weird, knowing that some of my friends are supernatural." Matt said. "Though you are one of the best players on our team. How'd you learn, anyway?"

"My brother taught me. How'd you get into it?"

"Tyler and I were always into sports." Matt told him. "We used to try out for everything when we were kids. Eventually, we stuck with football."

"You have a really good voice, Caroline." Allison said.

"I used to really love singing." She told Allison. "I was never in a band or anything, but it's always been something I loved doing."

"Have you ever written your own songs?" Lauren asked her.

"I used to, not any more though. It just got boring for me, besides, I was busy with other things." Caroline explained.

"I saw you looking at her." Nate said, sitting next to Tyler.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Dude, just talk to her." Nate said.

"I will, just not now." Tyler said. "Look, the timing's not right. Matt basically just dumped her in front of everyone here."

"Yeah, I get the point." Nate said. "Just don't wait too long though. You don't want to blow it." He got up to leave, when the rest of the girls showed up.

"You've got a good singing voice." Bonnie told him.

"It's why I was the band's lead for a couple years." Nate said.

"Have you ever thought of going solo?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, yeah, but I'm not sure if music's really my type of thing."

"When she was a freshman, she wanted to direct music videos." Elena said.

"That was before I became a witch." Bonnie told her. "I've been thinking of going into teaching."

"That's pretty cool." Elena said.

Maria walked over to Jeremy. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm good, though it's kind of weird being out here with you guys." Jeremy said.

"Good weird or…"

"Yeah." He looked up. "Our parents used to camp out with us by the lake house. I guess being here just reminded me of that."

"I'm sorry." Maria said, remembering that they're parents were gone.

"Don't be. I like being out here and in a way, I can feel like they're with us now."

"You're a really strong kid, Jer." Maria said.

"You should've been there when he was in his druggie phase." She heard Elena say from behind her.

"I thought that was between us." Jeremy said. Maria walked away as they started debating about it. Of course, Maria already knew about it because Anna told her when she was dating him.

She was so lost in thought, she didn't realize when someone grabbed her arm. She screamed in surprise, then tripped on top of the person. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He said.

"A little late for that." Maria said. Then she blushed.

"You can get off now." She jumped to her feet immediately.

"Why were you hiding back there?"

"I wasn't hiding, if I remember, you're the one who fell on top of me." Maria glared at him. "What were you thinking about?"

"Just a lot on my mind, I guess." Maria told him. "At least this trip is working. Hopefully other things will work out, too."

"They will, Maria."

A few hours later, most of the group had fallen asleep. Liz had taken the first watch, but seemed to be getting tired. "I've got it from here, Sheriff."

"No, it's fine…"

"You're exhausted." Alaric pointed out. "Trust me, I wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt these kids. You need to get some rest."

"Okay." She walked over to the tent in the corner that no one had bothered to use, since they preferred to sleep outside and had brought sleeping bags.

Maria and Damon were still sitting by the fire. They were the only two still awake. "What you did earlier, for Caroline, that was amazing."

"I was just helping a friend. Besides, it was you're idea." Maria said. "You're smarter than we give you credit for sometimes."

"Well, I've been around a long time. Besides, I've been around this group long enough to know their strong and weak points."

"As long as you don't use any against them." Maria said. "After all, these are our friends you're talking about." She looked toward the fire. "You ever get the feeling someone's calling you, as though they're trying to help?" She didn't hear a response. "Damon?"

She looked over and saw that her boyfriend had fallen asleep. She walked over and brushed her hand through his hair. "Goodnight, Damon." She whispered, not sure he could even hear her. She kissed him on the cheek before moving to the side. It wasn't long before she fell asleep herself.


	14. New Strategies

A few days later, the group was back to training. This time, everyone had been randomly paired up for practice, which probably wasn't the best idea. "Of all the names I could've drawn, I can't believe I got my sister." Jeremy said.

"At least you know who you're dealing with." Tyler said. "I got Ali."

"Careful, Ty. She really knows how to kick butt." Caroline said.

"Thanks."

"Just trying to help."

"Okay, this random pairs business is clearly a bad idea." Bonnie said.

"Oh, come on guys." Maria said. "We don't know who we'll be fighting, what strategies they'll use to try and catch us off guard. This is good practice for keeping it up."

"I still think it's a really bad idea."

"Wait, Bonnie, who'd you get paired up with?" Elena asked. Bonnie reluctantly handed over the name she drew. "Oh."

"She got Damon." Caroline said. Maria looked at Bonnie, who seemed to be blushing from embarrassment. She gave Caroline a look that told her to shut it.

"Great."

"Hey, on the bright side, at least you didn't get Nate." Caroline said.

"No, but I did." Matt admitted.

"Wait, then who's helping Care train?" Allison asked.

"I am." The group turned and looked at Lauren. "Bonnie said my defense needs more work and I know Caroline could barely hurt a fly."

"On second thought, bring it on." Caroline said.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Maria said.

"Wait, who are you supposed to train with?" Alaric asked her.

"My partner's running a little late." Maria told him. "But I think you could help the Gilbert kids work on their technique."

A few minutes later, the groups had separated into pairs. Maria was walking to the edge of the clearing. She was wondering where he was, when she was attacked from behind. She grabbed her attacker and flipped him. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?" She asked.

"Yeah, just thought I'd give it a shot." Stefan told her. "Sorry about running late. I was…"

"I know." Maria said, cutting him off. "Anyway, we better get to practice. Though next time, we're not picking names out of a hat."

"Who's idea was that, anyway?" He asked.

"I think it was Ali's."

Meanwhile, the others were having a little trouble with practicing. "Okay, stop." Nate said. "This isn't working."

"Oh, you think?" Matt asked. "How are we supposed to focus on training against each other when we keep running into each other's way?"

"This is why Maria usually has us spread out, give ourselves space to practice." Bonnie pointed out.

"Okay, here's a set of training areas. It must've fallen out of Maria's pocket when she took off." Elena said, handing them a sheet of paper.

"Would've been nice of her to tell us before she left."

"We can figure this out." Caroline said. "Okay, I think Tyler and Ali should practice in the north corner over here. Lauren and I will go to the west corner."

"We can practice in the southeast woods." Tyler told Allison.

"Sounds cool."

"Guess we'll be in the eastern part of the forest." Bonnie said.

Five minutes later, the group had gone to their assigned areas. Matt and Nate got stuck practicing in the southwest region of the woods. "You still need a little improvement."

"Give it a rest." Matt said. "You're not the one who was trained by your school's history teacher."

"Yeah, how are you doing with all this, anyway?" Nate asked.

"I'm getting used to it, but it's still weird."

"What do you expect? Once you know about the supernatural, nothing is the same." Nate told him.

"I don't see how you guys do this, act like everything's normal all the time."

"It's just life, Matt." Nate said. "We're just trying to live as normally as we can."

"Yeah, maybe I was being harsh before about everything."

"Hey, it's no big deal." Nate said. "I was tired of not being able to trust people that were trying to help me."

"Care wasn't kidding." Tyler said, avoiding Allison's punches. "You really are good."

"Thanks for noticing."

"Okay, hold on. I have a quick questions. Are all vampires this good at fighting, cause when Caroline told me about herself, she kicked my ass." Tyler said.

"Only because you were threatening her." Allison pointed out. "I'd say most vampires are pretty good at fighting and strategies. Though it improves with how long they've been one and, well…" She started blushing. "Whether or not they're on human blood."

"I see why Care drinks from blood bags."

"Most of us do." Allison said. "Some of them just hunt humans for the heck off it. I'm not like that."

"I know that." Tyler said. "So, how old are you again?" She surprised him by kicking him into the closest tree.

"Don't you know it's impolite to ask a female her age?" Allison asked. Tyler got up and fought back.

"Just cause you're a girl, that doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you."

"Bring it on." She said. They started sparing again.

Caroline was holding still as Lauren tried practicing a spell. "Okay, I want you to come at me."

"I don't know."

"Come on, Caroline. Unless you're scared…"

"Fine." Caroline sped over to her, then hit what felt like an invisible wall. She put a hand to her forehead. "Ow."

"That protection spell actually worked." Lauren said. "Sorry about hurting you. I know you're one of the good guys."

"It's okay. I'll heal." Caroline told her.

"Wow. Maria was right when she said you're one of the strongest new vampires she ever trained."

"Really? She said that?"

"Yeah." Lauren said.

"Could you possibly do a protection spell around us just in case?"

"I can try." Lauren said. She stood next to Caroline and began casting a spell. A bunch of vines put up some kind of barrier around them.

"That's amazing."

"I must've been channeling nature when I focused on the spell." Lauren said. "Though this way, you can see the barrier. It's usually invisible."

"You're good with magic." Caroline said.

"I'm still kinda new at it." Lauren said. "But Bonnie's been helping me a lot."

""Well, I think you're ready for anything."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, Bonnie wasn't having as much luck with her training. "Okay, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked.

"Normally, you're able to kick my butt with no problem, now you seem to be holding back."

"I don't know what's going on with me." Bonnie told him. "Maybe I'm blocked again."

"You've worked through it before." Damon pointed out.

"I know, but it feels different this time."

"Well, what has you so scared that you can't use your magic?"

"Maybe it's you!" She shouted suddenly. They both seemed surprised. "Wow. Never thought I'd say that aloud."

"Wait, you're afraid of me?"

"Yes." Bonnie said. "Ever since you tried to kill me that time."

"For the last time, it was an accident."

"Yeah, you weren't the one afraid you'd die."

"Why would you still be scared, though?"

"I don't know, I never thought I'd have to fight you for real, I guess." Bonnie said.

"I've known a lot of witches in my time, Bonnie, but none as powerful or scary as you." Damon said.

"Whoa, what? You're afraid of me?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, you're always using those spells on me, throwing me halfway across the room, not to mention those migraines are extremely painful."

"In my defense, I only use them when necessary." Bonnie said. "And sometimes, you get way out of line."

"Yeah, I guess. But we need to work together if we're going to face Katherine again."

"I know. And for Maria's sake, I think we should bury the hatchet." Bonnie said. "Like you said, we need to work together and personally, I'm tired of fighting with you all the time."

"Same here. I've ticked off enough witches to last a lifetime, I don't want to end up on your bad side, though."

"Okay, just don't try to kill me again." Bonnie said.

"You've tried to kill me, too."

"I'm not happy about it." Bonnie admitted. "If it hadn't been for Maria, I wouldn't have saved you last Founder's Day."

"And if I hadn't promised Emily I'd protect her bloodline, you'd be dead by now."

"Okay, now that we've got that out, are we good?"

"I think so. Now let's get back to practicing. Cause I know you are way stronger than this." Bonnie smiled.

"Oh, please. I'm so not holding back this time." She told him.

"Okay, seriously. You fight like a girl."

"I am a girl, what's your excuse, Jer?" Elena countered as the siblings went at it.

"Really not cool, sis." He said, fighting back.

"Okay, I'm going to stop you two right here." Alaric said. "You guys are not fighting hard enough."

"When am I ever going to have to fight her?" Jeremy asked.

"You guys are holding back, in the real world, that's enough hesitation to get either of you killed."

"He's right." Elena said. "Maybe we just need to learn to let go. We're doing this again."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, I'm not taking any chances. Katherine would kill you in an instant, and I'm not going to let that happen." Elena told him.

"You think I want that to happen to you?" Jeremy asked her. "Of course not! But she could kill you, too, you know, or any of us for that matter. She's already killed Caroline."

"Good thing that didn't work out too well." Elena said. "We need to really take care of this."

"Yeah, you're right." Jeremy said.

"Okay, let's run it again." Alaric said.

Hours later, the group met up. "Okay, so, practice could've been a little better." Maria said. "Next time, I'll just write a list."

"Well, I suppose it's better than drawing names from a hat." Jeremy said. Allison looked at him. "No offense, but that was a really lame idea." Everyone pretty much agreed with him.

"Yeah, I'm with them, too." Tyler said.

"Sure you're not just jealous that I kicked your butt?" Allison asked.

"Please, you're not the first girl I've lost to." Tyler said.

"I thought that was between us." Caroline said.

"You both realize you just made it public, right?" Lauren pointed out.

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down." Maria said. "We've got little time left and…" Suddenly, she felt something and looked around.

"Maria?"

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"The barrier was breached." Maria told them.

"What's that mean?" Allison asked.

"What do you think it means, Ali? It means they're coming!" Matt practically yelled.

"Whoa, there's no need to shout." Nate said.

"I'm not…" Everyone looked at him. "Sorry."

"So, any ideas?"

"We wait for them to strike first." Maria told them. "I know it's risky, but since we're facing a group of newly-turned vampires…"

"Maybe one of them will leave a clue behind." Stefan finished, seeing where this was going.

"Maria, you're brilliant, as usual." Allison said.

"It's nothing."

"So, what do we do now?" Lauren asked.

"We head home." Maria said. "Look, we need to be ready for them and we've made a lot of progress for now."

"Yeah, guess all we can do now is be on guard while we wait for them to make their move." Bonnie agreed.

"Let's go, then."

"You two make sure nothing gets into your place." Maria said.

"Relax, they'd have to get through me first." Alaric pointed out.

"Not to mention, at least two out of three of us have these rings." Jeremy added.

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better." Maria said.

"Maybe we should split into groups." Lauren said. The group looked at her.

"You know, you're a lot smarter than you think sometimes." Allison told her.

"She's right, you know." Bonnie said. They glanced at her. "Sorry, I'll be over here."

"Can we decide how to split up this time?" Caroline spoke up. "Cause I'm thinking of going to Bonnie's."

"Guess we both had the same idea." Lauren said. They glanced at each other.

"Guys, there's enough room for both of you." Bonnie pointed out. "Besides, I should probably go over the grimore again before I go to sleep."

"It's cool with us." Nate said. "There are things I wanted to talk with Ali about anyway."

"Okay…" Allison said, wondering what he'd have to say to her.

"You wouldn't mind coming over, right?" Matt asked.

"Hey, I'm there anytime unless it's a full moon." Tyler told him.

"Well, I guess I know how the rest of us are separating." Maria said, looking at the guys.

"Just make sure the girls stay safe." Alaric told them.

"Hey, you know we don't mess around when things are this important." Damon pointed out.

"Oh, right, you didn't even know I was ab..." Maria began.

"That explains so much about you." Caroline said, cutting her off.

"Look the point is, we'll make sure the girls stay safe." Stefan pointed out. "Nothing will happen as long as they have us around."


End file.
